1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to messaging systems, and more particularly to electronic messaging systems.
2. Background of the Invention
Today's work and home lifestyles can be very busy for many families. In many cases, individual family members may be involved in multiple activities. Oftentimes, individual family members may have very little personal interaction. In some such families, a bulletin board, chalk board or other manual messaging systems may be used to provide some means of communication between members of the household. In some households, notes may be placed on the refrigerator or other commonly used appliances. Message areas may include a place for leaving notes of interest to the entire household, such as reminders for group events or grocery lists. In some households, the message area may be divided into various sub-areas allowing messages to be easily targeted to one or more household members.
Such messaging systems are also commonly used in a variety of offices or other work spaces. For example, a bulletin board system may be used to let others in the work place know of an individual's whereabouts. A bulletin board may also be used to post important messages for employees attention.
A problem with the above-described messaging systems in that an individual must be near the location of bulletin board to be able to post or read messages on the board. That is, conventional message systems do not provide a convenient method to manage notes posted in a shared environment from a remote location. For example, if a user is away from home when he or she desires to post a message to the bulletin board, that user would not be able to post the message until he or she returns home. By this time, the intended recipient of the message may have already departed the home, thereby missing the communication from the user. In another example, a message cannot be removed from the messaging area unless the user is physically near the messaging system. Similarly, a user cannot post a new message or update an existing messaging from a remote location.
Another problem with conventional messaging systems is that it is difficult to determine whether or not one or more of the intended recipients have read the note. For example, in conventional bulletin boards, even if a reader of a note initials the note or otherwise marks it to show it has been read, other users of the bulletin board must still physically review the board to receive the notification.
Conventional messaging systems also do not provide convenient means for creating a transportable copy of any messages posted thereon. Currently, if a user wants to take a copy of a message away from the messaging system, the user must manually copy a note onto a separate piece of paper. Alternatively, if the note was posted using a paper that may be removed from the board (e.g., pinned or taped to a bulletin board) the user may physically remove note and take the message away from the messaging system. However, if a note is removed from the message board then others members of the household or workplace will not be able to read the note.